Holland Park art aptitude

[Cleopatra1]

Can anyone help please?
I've received a letter from Holland Park saying that my son will be considered for a place through aptitude.
The letter says "He achieved in excess of 20 marks from a possible 40 and will therefore be considered for a place through aptitude." There is nothing to say how many marks he actually got.
It then goes on to say that to complete the application process for consideration I must name Holland Park on the Secondary transfer form and he must attend a banding test.
Since for the art aptitude the banding is now discounted and I think (could be wrong) that distance is also discounted.
I'm confused by the wording... Ie. 'considered'... where does the 'consideration' come into it? Maybe I'm being a bit dense but the letter seems very ambiguous.
Obviously, if Holland Park returned my calls or emails I wouldn't have this confusion!

[anotherboringnickname]

If the art place were a certainty, would Holland Park become your first choice? If so, put it as your first choice. If his score ends up not being high enough because of other kids with higher scores putting it as first choice, then it does not affect at all your chances for second choice as second choice then automatically becomes your first choice.

Mmmmm... the banding in this case would not influence him getting or not getting a place... me thinks!

[Abitannoyedatthis]

My DD is an art aptitude student in year 10.

The way it works is this:

The top 6 art scorers in each band are offered a place. They then go down the list and possibly sideways across the bands if places are not taken up.

Therefore they cannot say if your child will get a place until they have sorted out the bands. Also if your child is not high enough they will then be considered on distance in the normal way. If your child does not of the banding test they will not be considered at all.

[Cleopatra1]

Thanks for your replies!

[Abitannoyedatthis]

Hope your ds gets the school he wants and feel free to pm about HP if you want more info.

[keeponthesunnyside]

I want to know everything about HP! My son just passed the art aptitude test too and I have put the school top of my choices. Have you any idea how many children pass the test ( get the letter ) and the ratio to actually getting the place? More importantly has your ds been happy at the school and have you been pleased with it too? I found such extreme reactions on here about the school but thought it would suit my ds. Also - do you mind me asking - what band did you son get put in from the banding test? Do you think all the results go on the test or on the report from primary school too? thanks so much.

[heidiwine]

I know quite a bit about holland park school.
Personally I wouldn't send a child of mine there as I do not think it provides a rounded education, the focus is work, work, work and very little fun or opportunity for anything other than classical academia...
No school choir of any kind
No end of term play/production (despite state of the art facilities)
Very little sport (despite fantastic facilities)
Very few school trips/exchanges
No 'home economics' - cooking, textiles,
Very little for non-academic students (unless they're exceptional at art)
Very little in the way of pastoral care
Hardly any practical science
A huge amount of homework
A 50% staff turnover each year (which says a lot)

Obviously it totally depends on your child but my advice would be to go to the school and try to see through the gloss and the corporate machine.

[Abitannoyedatthis]

Assume some of this is addressed to me though I have a DD! She was and is band 1. The banding is solely by the test - BUT they move a lot of kids after the first term and often later on as well.

My DD is now in year 10 and likes the school - well more accurately her friends. Heidi is wrong about the pastoral care which is excellent. There has been a choir during the 4 years that my DD has been at school and there are regular performances. The sports are now taken more seriously. There are very few trips and they are mainly rewards for a perpetual group of golden children, to whom the prizes and accolades are given each year.

The teachers are treated like shit IMO and work long hours. There are teachers that stay year on year do some do stick it.

Yes there is massive work ethic and from what I can see ALL kids not just the academic are encouraged to achieve.

It was our last choice. I dislike the head but if you are local it is probably the best option.

I don't know how many kids passed the art test. But hang in there you never know and there is normally a lot of movement on list.

[keeponthesunnyside]

yes! sorry - DD. thanks so much for replying.

[asserta]

I found some of the comments about the school scary. Does anybody have any experience of or knows anything about HPS Sixth Form? Any feedback would be much appreciated.

[HPparent]

I am not a Sixth Form user though I have a child at the school. It is quite selective - A grades required for options chosen and at least Bs in the other GCSEs. Strict in terms of uniform "business suits". I believe they take 4 subjects to A2 rather than 3 at most schools. No general studies but they do the EPQ. Teaching seems quite good and they do get kids into good Unis but they really overload with work and private study.

I think they suffer the same ethos as the rest of the school ie rather aggressive management, being talked down to and certain golden kids valued above all the others. It seems ridiculously strict and the ego of the Head and the rest of the SLT are what counts not the kids. Head acts as if the school is his personal property. The Governors are out of touch with reality and have no control over him at all.

I also think the school at some point will be engulfed by a major financial scandal regarding non educational expenditure which has been brewing for some time.

[heidiwine]

I echo all that HP says in the post above. I used to teach there.

[deanyyy]

Hi all... can anyone help? I've applied for my daughter to take the art test for holland park school... Can anyone tell me what sort of questions are asked in the test and what sort of practical work I could expect my daughter to be asked to do?

[tripleweetabix]

My daughter did it in 2012 and son in 2013-
they had to draw a hand and my son stacked chairs..
they had people hovering around and marking out those with particular skill.
2 children got picked from my daughters school in her year including herself but we didnt take the offer